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Yarmouth police hit the streets Thursday night in search of six convicted
sex offenders the state claims live in the town.

By yesterday afternoon, however, police, frustrated by incorrect addresses
found in the state's sex-offender database, had found only one of the
six.

Last night, the whereabouts of the five convicted sex criminals, remained
a mystery.

The Yarmouth experience is not unique. Across the Cape, police departments
are trying to step up efforts to locate and arrest convicted sex offenders
who are in violation of the state's registration requirement.

Convicted sex offenders are required by law to register their addresses
annually with the state and local police departments.

But police are frequently stymied because the addresses offenders provide
to the state are not kept up to date.

"It's frustrating," said Yarmouth Lt. Steven Xiarhos. "We've
stepped up our efforts to track convicted sex offenders who are not registered,
but the problem is, sometimes the offenders have moved. The addresses
are no longer correct."

Last month's murder of Falmouth resident Jonathan Wessner, 20, and the
arrest of convicted child rapist Paul R. Nolin in the case has renewed
interest in the sex offender registry.

Earlier this month, Falmouth police came under criticism when it was
discovered that murder suspect Nolin was a convicted sex offender and
had served 18 years for the kidnapping and rape of a 10-year-old Lowell
boy.

Nolin had failed to register with Falmouth police until Sept. 23, three
days after Wessner disappeared and at a time when Nolin was already under
police scrutiny.

Yet prior to that, Falmouth police said they were unaware that Nolin
lived in their town. They said state registry officials never notified
them that Nolin had moved to Falmouth from Mashpee.

State officials countered, saying police could have found that Nolin
was living in Falmouth and was in violation by checking the registry database
for Falmouth addresses.

But even if Falmouth police had been routinely looking at the state database,
there is no guarantee they could have located Nolin.

Police in Yarmouth said yesterday they checked the database and came
up with the names and addresses of six convicted sex offenders supposedly
living in Yarmouth who had not signed up with the police.

None of the addresses proved accurate.

Of the six offenders, police were able to track one down. But even this
man's address taken from the state database was wrong.

Police said they went to that address, discovered the man had moved.
They were finally able to locate him by learning where he worked in Hyannis.

This man registered Thursday after police told him to do so or face arrest.
He was given until 4 p.m. to show up at the Yarmouth police station.

Xiarhos could not say if police would allow other unregistered offenders
to turn themselves in.

"That's something we'll have to consider on a case-by-case basis,"
he said. "The point of all this is to bring people into compliance
with the law. If it takes an arrest, then that's what we'll have to do."

Other town police departments are running into problems similar to Yarmouth's
and are trying to decide how to proceed.

Eastham

Eastham police checked with the sex offender registry recently and found
one unregistered sex offender listed in town, according to Eastham Det.
Benjamin Novotny, who is in charge of the town's sex offender registry
enforcement.
"To the best of our knowledge he doesn't live in town and hasn't
lived here for a number of years," said Novotny.

The address provided by the state for the offender was a house that changed
ownership four years ago. Police have been unable to locate the offender.

Novotny said police had assumed that the registry was keeping track of
where offenders are living and what cars they are driving. To have police
checking seemed a duplication of effort, he said.

"Police are taking it seriously, but the rules have changed back
and forth so often, it's been difficult to follow," said Novotny.
"Some things have slipped through the cracks with unfortunate outcomes."

Harwich

Harwich police have adopted a tough stance toward any sex offenders.
"We're going to be as aggressive as possible," said Lt. Thomas
Gagnon, who is in charge of the program.

Harwich will follow Yarmouth's lead and compare its list of sexual offenders
with the list maintained by the state's Sex Offender Registry Board, Gagnon
said.

"We will do it in the next day or two. We take this very seriously,"
he said.

If other unregistered offenders are located in town they may be arrested,
Gagnon said.

Brewster

Brewster Police Lt. Dwayne Farley said police know where the one Level
3 sexual offender is in town, as well as six Level 2 offenders.
"The state board and our numbers match," he said.

He also said that if offenders are found in town who have not registered
as the law requires, they may be subject to arrest.

But he noted that in one recent case, a Level 3 sex offender living in
Truro also stayed in Brewster on occasion. When Brewster police filed
charges against him for not registering in Brewster, the court threw the
charges out because the man was already registered in Truro.

Chatham

In Chatham, Lt. Michael Walker said the department knows of 12 sexual
offenders in town, but only one of them has been classified as a Level
2 offender, and the appropriate public notifications have been made.
But until the state board classifies the other 11, local police cannot
do much more than ensure the offenders are where they say they are.

Walker said that state board numbers match the town's numbers. If offenders
turn up who are not registered, Walker said police will tell them to register
immediately.

"If they don't we would probably seek a court complaint," Walker
said.

Barnstable

Barnstable Police records property supervisor Kathy Hinckley said she
used to dedicate about 20 percent of her time managing the town's sex
offender registry records.
Since the Wessner case, she now spends 60 percent of her time checking
the registry. A year ago, she had one or two people come in every month
to look at the registry. Now, two or three people come in every day, Hinckley
said.

Over the past few weeks, she has been pouring over registry records to
make sure they match with Barnstable's files. There are discrepancies.

Hinckley has noted that two people listed in the registry database as
Barnstable residents have since moved to Harwich and Oak Bluffs.

"We did not receive any notification, nor have we yet received notice
that they moved from our community," Hinckley said. "We hope
that when the board gets this type of information, that they forward it
one to us, and that's not always the case."

A few people who are listed as living in Barnstable are actually in jail
and no longer in the community. And there are two or three others who
have registered with the town but don't appear on the registry database.

"I have no idea why they aren't in the database," she said.

Truro

Lt. John Lundborn, in charge of Truro's sex offender registration program,
said his department regularly checks the state registry list with its
own records, and so far they are the same.

Bourne

"There's been an increased concern as to who's in the neighborhood,"
said Lt. Joel Gould.
Bourne Lt. Earl Baldwin said there aren't any names on the state list
of offenders who haven't registered with the town. "I don't know
of anyone who is in violation at this point," he said.

Provincetown

Police officials in Provincetown who are in charge of sex offender registrations
did not return a telephone call yesterday.

Tracking device

* Increased interest: The Jonathan Wessner murder case has sparked renewed
interest in the state database used to track convicted sex criminals.
* Roadblock: While the state has touted the accessibility of its records,
some police departments have found flawed information there .

BARNSTABLE - The embattled priest pal of accused killer Paul Nolin stood
firm yesterday in his refusal to testify in the case, claiming their dealings
are protected as spiritual guidance, his lawyer said.

"I've advised him to assert whatever privileges and immunities are
available under the law," said Frank O'Boy, attorney for the Rev.
Bernard Kelly.

[Photo Caption - Nolin: Suspect in Woods Hole murder case.]

Kelly, who employed Nolin as a handyman at St. Joseph's Church, refused
to testify this week before a grand jury probing the Sept. 20 killing
of 20-year-old Jonathan Wessner. Authorities say Nolin, a convicted child
rapist, met the aspiring golf pro at a late-night party, stabbed him in
a Woods Hole boathouse and dumped his body on a rocky shoreline.

Kelly, 70, claims his conversations with Nolin are protected under a
state law shielding statements made to priests by defendants "seeking
religious or spiritual advice or comfort."

"He's asserted certain privileges," O'Boy said.

Prosecutors, however, reportedly believe Nolin and Kelly had a sexual
relationship and want a judge to force the priest to testify. Kelly, who
has been suspended by the Fall River diocese because of the ongoing probe,
hid his face behind a newspaper and refused comment after appearing before
a Barnstable Superior Court judge yesterday. The judge is expected to
rule on Kelly's testimony next week.

Another priest tied to Nolin, the Rev. Donald Turlick, has also reportedly
refused to cooperate in the probe. Turlick counseled Nolin while Nolin
was serving 18 years in jail for raping a 10-year-old boy and rented him
an apartment when he was released in 2000. Citing anonymous law enforcement
sources, the Cape Cod Times yesterday reported Nolin had a sexual relationship
with Turlick.

Turlick and Kelly are close friends who graduated from the seminary together
in the late-1960s. Turlick, 68, is reportedly at a conference in Florida
and his lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.

Neighbors of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole expressed anger that the
convicted pedophile worked for Kelly at the church. Nolin, a plumber's
apprentice, also worked at many homes in the waterfront hamlet.

"I'm shocked. Absolutely shocked," said Elizabeth Farnham.
"After all the craziness that went on in Boston with the church (sexual
abuse scandal), one would think there would be some awareness of the behavior."

Church failed to monitor Turlick
Accused killer's former therapist is not listed in Catholic directory,
yet diocese claims he's a priest in good standing

By Sean Gonsalves
Cape Cod Times
November 2, 2003

http://www.capecodonline.com/special/sexregistry/churchfailed2.htm

In the 25 years since the Rev. Donald Turlick traded his priestly duties
for those of a psychology professor and therapist to pedophiles and rapists,
he received little, if any, supervision from Roman Catholic Church officials.

In fact, Connecticut church officials could not explain why Turlick,
on leave since 1978, remains a priest "in good standing" even
though he hasn't functioned as a priest since then and hasn't been listed
in the Official Catholic Directory since 1988. The directory contains
the names and assignments of every priest in the United States, including
those on leave.

Turlick, 68, of Mashpee is the man who brought convicted child rapist
Paul Nolin to live on the Cape after his release from prison in June 2000.

Nolin, 39, is accused of the Sept. 20 kidnapping and murder of Jonathan
Wessner, a 20-year-old aspiring golf pro. Turlick, one of Nolin's therapists
a dozen years ago at the Massachusetts Treatment Center for the Sexually
Dangerous in Bridgewater, helped Nolin get out of the center so he would
be eligible for release when his prison sentence was served.

Law enforcement sources allege that Turlick had a sexual relationship
with Nolin and introduced Nolin and other young men to the Rev. Bernard
Kelly, pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole. Fall River Bishop
George Coleman has placed Kelly on leave pending completion of the investigation.

Nolin's attorney denies his client was having sex with Kelly, and Turlick's
attorney said the three were just friends who often socialized.

Neither Turlick nor Kelly could be reached for comment.

As of Friday, Turlick was out of town and not cooperating with murder
investigators. He has not yet been served with a subpoena to testify before
the Barnstable County grand jury, which is investigating Wessner's murder.

Turlick's connection with Nolin, the fact that he was not monitored by
church officials for 25 years and has not been listed in the directory
for 15 years, are indications that Turlick may have had problems when
working as a priest, according to church observers.

Those problems could be as simple as a man deciding he is not cut out
for the priesthood or something more serious, said Terry McKiernan, a
Catholic activist who operates the Web site Bishopaccountability.org.
"You can tell when a priest is in trouble by his record. People don't
just vanish out of the Catholic Directory."

Lax supervision protocol

Former Bridgeport, Conn., Bishop Walter W. Curtis, now deceased, granted
Turlick permission to work outside the diocese to pursue a secular career,
Joseph McAleer, diocese spokesman, said in an e-mail interview last week.

But McAleer could not say why Turlick is no longer listed in the Catholic
directory. And he would not be specific about how diocese officials monitored
Turlick's work with sex offenders over the years, including directing
a furlough release program for the sex offenders at Bridgewater.

The Bridgeport Diocese, like any other diocese, "maintains contact
with its priests who are living and working elsewhere," McAleer said.
"This is the case with Father Turlick. He is a 'priest in good standing,'
as there are no complaints made against him."

McAleer would not say how frequently diocese officials checked in on
Turlick, how contact was made or when Turlick last spoke with diocese
officials.

The Rev. Richard McBrien, a theology professor at the University of Notre
Dame who attended seminary with Turlick and is assigned to the Hartford,
Conn., diocese, is skeptical that church officials kept an eye on Turlick's
activities. McBrien said church officials don't carefully monitor priests
who pursue ministerial work beyond the confines of their home diocese.

"I served under three bishops in Connecticut. Each gave me permission
to teach at various seminaries over the years, including here at the University
of Notre Dame."

But none of those bishops, McBrien said, required that he regularly report
back to the diocese, though McBrien said he does so once a year on his
own initiative.

"I'm not aware of any standard procedure or protocol where bishops
have a way of keeping in touch with priests working outside of the diocese,"
he said.

In the Fall River Diocese, which includes the Cape and islands, there
are four priests working outside the diocese but they are working for
or studying with Catholic Church organizations, said diocese spokesman
John Kearns.

Turlick's situation is very rare, he said, because his work has been
secular and because most leaves granted to priests are one or two years.

Tracking Turlick

McBrien is also curious about why Turlick's name has been dropped from
the directory. "Every priest in good standing is listed in that directory,"
he said.
The directory has been published annually by J.P. Kenedy & Sons since
1817. According to the publisher's Web site, the latest edition was "officially
authorized and approved by the Catholic Church. (It) contains updated
contact information for 60,000 clergy and thousands of laity across the
country for 207 (arch) dioceses in the United States, and for hundreds
of (arch) dioceses throughout the world. This includes Eastern Rite Churches
and Territorial Sees."

McBrien, a longtime syndicated weekly columnist and author of numerous
books on Catholicism, including "The Lives of the Saints" (2001),
said that any former priest who is not listed in the directory is considered
to be not in good standing with the church.

Beyond insisting Turlick is a priest in good standing with the Bridgeport
Diocese, McAleer will not release any information about Turlick's assignments
in the diocese before he was granted a leave. But McKiernan, whose Web
site keeps track of American bishops and their role in the church sex
scandal, has studied the career records of scores of priests, including
Turlick.

He looked at annual Catholic directories going back to 1962, when Turlick
became a priest and was assigned to St. Matthew's Church in Norwalk, Conn.
Turlick moved in 1963 to Central Catholic High School, staying until 1964,
and in 1965 he was moved to St. Jerome's church and school in Norwalk,
Conn., where he stayed until 1969.

He was listed as being on duty outside the diocese at Boston University,
where he earned a doctorate in education, from 1970 to 1974. He was then
assigned to St. Catherine's in Riverside, Conn., from 1975 to 1977. After
that he was listed as absent on leave from 1978 to 1987. That was the
last time his name was listed in the directory, according to McKiernan.

After Turlick went on leave, he became an assistant professor at Emmanuel
College in Boston, where he taught psychology.

The 2003 edition does not include Turlick among the list of 14 Bridgeport
priests working outside the diocese. Neither is Turlick listed among the
Bridgeport diocesan priests who are on leave or retired.

"Why is the Diocese of Bridgeport doing this?" McBrien asked.
"What are they covering up? Either he's a priest in good standing
or he is not. If he's a priest in good standing, why isn't he in the directory?"

McAleer said he couldn't explain why Turlick's name is absent from the
directory, adding that it may have been a clerical oversight.

"I simply don't have an answer for you, only the facts, which are
coming from the proper source, namely the Diocese of Bridgeport."

Changing attitudes

But what makes the omission seem all the more suspicious to some church
observers is that it is not uncommon for priests to work outside of the
diocese in which they were ordained.

"Every diocese has someone working outside of the diocese,"
McBrien said, pointing to his own career as an example. "I'm in the
directory even though I'm working outside of the diocese."

Despite McBrien's experience of not hearing from his diocese regularly,
Kearns of the Fall River Diocese says that has changed.

Church officials may not have monitored the work of priests outside the
diocese 20 or 30 years ago, but in recent years priests working outside
of their diocese are monitored much more closely, he said.

"Let's say a priest is visiting the Cape for the summer and wants
to continue in his priestly ministries. That requires a mandatory exchange
of paperwork between the dioceses and parishes involved to verify that
the priest is in good standing," Kearns said.

"In this day and age, priests are monitored much more carefully
than they used to be. It's very structured."

Who a priest reports to depends on how he was ordained. A diocesan priest
answers to the diocese bishop. A priest ordained by a religious order
answers to the superior of the order.

There's no such thing as a freelance priest, Kearns said.

In the Fall River Diocese, which includes 22 parishes on the Cape and
islands, there are 173 diocesan priests. Of those, 133 are active; four
are working or studying outside of the diocese; two are working in foreign
missions and 34 are retired or on leave, which includes Kelly, 70, the
recently removed pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Woods Hole.

Kelly was subpoenaed to testify at the grand jury investigating Wessner's
murder but so far has refused to testify, citing penitent privilege.

"If a priest is working outside of the diocese he is doing so with
the permission of the bishop of his home diocese and the permission of
the bishop of the diocese where the priest is working," Kearns explained.

But if a priest has been defrocked or is on leave, as is the case with
both Turlick and now Kelly, "those priests are not permitted to function
as priests. They can't wear the collar, lead Mass or present themselves
as priests in any way," Kearns said.

The Fall River Diocese has a priest who serves as a liaison between the
bishop and priests who are not active in the diocese, although Kearns
wasn't able to provide details as to how often, and in what way, the liaison
checks on priests not serving in any of the diocese's 101 parishes.

And neither could McAleer, who also insists that his diocese has a similar
priest "watchdog" who is expected to keep in regular contact
with priests like Turlick.

Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented hundreds of
clergy sex abuse victims over the past 10 years, said his experience has
shown that church officials have done a poor job of keeping track of priests
activities.

"Let's face it, the supervising is sloppy, whether intentional or
unintentional," he said. "The records indicate that the supervising
priests don't properly supervise.

"And remember (the Rev. John) Geoghan was in a retirement home when
he was still molesting children."

At a glance

* The Rev. Donald Turlick has not performed traditional priestly duties
since 1978.
* Though he remains a member of the clergy, the Official Catholic Directory
has not listed his name since 1988.
* The Bridgeport, Conn., Diocese, where Turlick last worked, still lists
him as a "priest in good standing."
* Turlick has carried on secular work as a therapist for pedophiles and
rapists.
* The relationship between Turlick and Paul R. Nolin has been called into
question since September, following the death of Jonathan Wessner of Falmouth.
Nolin has been charged with murder.
* Turlick has not cooperated with investigators and could be subpoenaed
to testify before a Barnstable County grand jury.

Prosecutors Seek Priest's Conversations

By Anne Barnard abarnard@globe.com
Boston Globe
November 1, 2003

BARNSTABLE - Prosecutors yesterday asked a judge to order a suspended
priest, the Rev. Bernard R. Kelly, to tell a grand jury about conversations
he had with murder suspect Paul R. Nolin Jr., in a case that could help
define the boundaries of priests' and parishioners' legal rights to keep
their communications secret.

Kelly, former pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole, refused to
testify this week before a grand jury investigating the killing of Jonathan
Wessner, 20, said Kelly's lawyer. The lawyer, Francis O'Boy, contends
that conversations between the priest and Nolin are covered by state law
and court precedents that forbid clergy to disclose what they are told
by people seeking spiritual guidance.

But Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe challenged Kelly's
assertion yesterday in a closed-door hearing in Barnstable County Superior
Court, according to O'Boy and other lawyers familiar with the case. The
hearing was closed to the public because it involves ongoing secret grand
jury proceedings, but prosecutors had signaled their intent to argue that
Nolin's conversations with the priest took place outside a religious or
spiritual context, lawyers familiar with the case said.

A law enforcement source has said that Kelly told investigators earlier
this month that he had a sexual relationship with Nolin. Yesterday, addressing
the allegation for the first time, O'Boy told reporters, "I have
no knowledge of that."

O'Boy said he did not believe Kelly was a suspect in the killing or a
target of the grand jury investigation, adding, that "anybody who's
called before a grand jury is probably going to be apprehensive."

Kelly, 70, declined to answer questions as he left the courthouse.

Prosecutors hope Kelly's testimony will bolster their case against Nolin,
39, a convicted child rapist who worked at Kelly's church as a handyman.
Nolin has pleaded not guilty to charges that he beat and stabbed Wessner
to death Sept. 20 on a Woods Hole beach less than a mile from the church.
Nolin denies having a sexual relationship with Kelly, according to his
lawyer, Robert W. Nolan, who contends that even if the two were intimate,
Nolin's statements to Kelly are confidential.

Earlier this week, the grand jury heard testimony linking Nolin to the
Brockton parking lot where Wessner's bloodstained Jeep was found, said
lawyers familiar with the case. Shawn Schirmer, a friend of Nolin's, testified
that he picked up Nolin there Sept. 20 after Nolin told him he had been
abandoned nearby by other friends. Outside his South Shore apartment complex
yesterday, Schirmer declined to speak with a reporter.

Massachusetts lawyers said Judge Richard F. Connon's decision, expected
next week, could have broader legal importance because there is little
state case law to define exactly what interactions are protected under
what is sometimes called the "priest-penitient privilege."

Roderick MacLeish Jr., who represents alleged victims of clergy sexual
abuse, said the privilege has often been "overused by lawyers representing
religious organizations to provent the truth from coming out,"

Other lawyers, meanwhile, worry that narrowing the privilege could have
a chilling effect on people's ability to turn to religious counselors,
said David Yas, a lawyer who is editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Specialists could not think of a case that tested whether a priest's
sexual relationship with a client removed the privilege. But they said
Connon will have to weigh many factors to determine whether Nolin was
seeking spiritual guidance.

"What was said, where was it said, why was it said, who was present?"
said Mitchell Garabedian, another lawyer for alleged abuse victims.

"Just because you're hanging with your priest, it doesn't mean everything
you say to him is privileged. It has to be a specific conversation on
the subject of religion," Yas said.

But Paul Nemser, a lawyer with Goodwin Procter LLP who has written a
book on the clergy privilege and analagous protections that cover statements
people make to their doctors, lawyers, and psychologists, noted that a
1962 law covers statements by anyone "seeking religious or spiritual
advice or comfort" and advice clergy gives "in professional
capacity or professional character."

"The line between friendly conversation and spiritual advice could
be somewhat blurry," Nemser said.

The Fall River Diocese, which suspended Kelly from his parish earlier
this month and urged him to fully cooperate with authorities, was not
represented at the hearing, said spokesman John Kearns. He said the diocese
did not have enough information to take a position on whether Kelly can
legitimately refuse to testify.

Another priest who has been questioned in the case, The Rev. Donald Turlick,
does not plan to assert the priest privilege when he is called before
the grand jury as expected, said his lawyer, Kathleen English. That is
because Turlick did not serve as Nolin's priest and has not actively worked
as a priest in years, she said. (English is married to Nolin's lawyer,
Nolan. Turlick, she said, would retain another lawyer to help with his
grand jury appearance to avoid a conflict of interest. Turlick, a licensed
psychologist and Kelly's seminary classmate, counseled Nolin when he was
an inmate at the Massachusetts Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous
in Bridgewater. After Nolin served his 18-year-sentence, Turlick said
he rented him an apartment in his Mashpee home, helped him find jobs and
introduced him to Kelly. Turlick has said that he, Nolin, and Kelly occasionally
socialized together and described Kelly as a close friend.

But yesterday, Kelly's lawyer, O'Boy, sought to distance his client from
Turlick, saying he and Kelly "appear to be acquaintances."

Yesterday, during a brief hearing in Falmouth District Court, Robert
Nolan questioned whether the state had enough evidence to continue holding
his client, Nolin, without bail.

Nolan told Falmouth Judge Michael Creedon his client has been held without
bail at the Barnstable County House of Correction for a month despite
the fact that District Attorney Michael O'Keefe has provided Nolan little
information about the charges.

Nolin, 39, pleaded innocent Oct. 2 to kidnapping and murdering Jonathan
Wessner of Falmouth. Wessner, 20, was last seen Sept. 20 leaving a party
with Nolin. Wessner's body was found partially buried on a beach in Woods
Hole on Oct. 4.

The district court proceedings may be moot if a grand jury indicts Nolin,
thereby moving the case to Superior Court. The 23-member jury will reconvene
today for a second day of testimony in Barnstable.

The Rev. Donald Turlick, 68, a priest and therapist to Nolin, will testify
before the grand jury when he returns from an out-of-state conference
later this month, according to his spokeswoman, Kathleen English.

But it remains uncertain whether the Rev. Bernard Kelly, 70, will testify.
Kelly was pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole until he was placed
on leave pending completion of the Wessner murder investigation.

Nolin worked as a handyman around the church and socialized with Kelly
and Turlick.

Kelly was called before the grand jury last week but refused to testify,
citing a priest's penitent privilege. On Friday, O'Keefe asked a Superior
Court judge to compel Kelly to testify. As of yesterday the judge had
not rendered a decision.

Request for evidence

In Falmouth District Court yesterday, Nolin's attorney filed a motion
for discovery, requesting copies of everything from Wessner's autopsy
reports to photographs of the crime scene to the personal information
of every person interviewed by the state.
He questioned whether the state has the evidence to back up the charges
against Nolin.

"We have nothing to work with. We have nothing from the DA's office,"
Nolan said.

Assistant District Attorney Seth Roman countered that Nolin's attorney
was provided full access to the arrest affidavit and the search warrants.

Judge Creedon told Roman he has a week to legally justify why the district
attorney is not giving to Nolan every piece of evidence collected by investigators.
First Assistant District Attorney Michael Trudeau said the district attorney's
office would have to look at what Nolan was asking for before determining
how to proceed.

Hyannis defense attorney Thomas Rugo said motions for discovery are strictly
procedural, and the state should be forthcoming about handing over the
information it has gathered.

"It's the defense attorney's job to put on the record his request
for anything and everything, and it's (the prosecution's) obligation to
provide that information to him in a timely fashion," Rugo said.

The case could move out of the district court soon and on to Superior
Court if the grand jury indicts Nolin. Felonies, such as the murder and
kidnapping charges, must be tried in Superior Court.

Hurt by press coverage

While Kelly has declined to testify before the grand jury, Turlick looks
forward to testifying because he feels he has been unfairly treated in
the press, according to English, his spokeswoman.

Investigators have said Turlick has been uncooperative, but English said
Turlick sat through a three-hour interview with investigators several
weeks ago.

Turlick rented Nolin a room at his Mashpee home in 2000 when Nolin completed
an 18-year prison sentence for raping an 11-year-old boy. English said
claims by law enforcement officials that Turlick and Nolin had a sexual
relationship are false.

Although some of Turlick's neighbors have been upset he would move Nolin
to the community without telling anyone, English says Turlick has done
nothing wrong.

"He doesn't have any obligation to go to the neighbors and tell
them," she said. "There were no crimes against children when
(Paul Nolin) was in that neighborhood and there are no crimes against
children now."

Turlick's leaving town for a conference was not a way of avoiding testifying
before the grand jury, English said. The trip was planned as far back
as September, she said.

Turlick's private practice as a therapist in Barnstable has been badly
damaged by the news coverage of his connection to Nolin, she said, so
he may have to retire.

Man tells of helping friend now accused of Cape slaying
Suspect said he was in trouble

FALMOUTH -- The day Jonathan Wessner disappeared, Paul R. Nolin Jr. called
his friend Shawn Schirmer and said he was ''in a lot of trouble,'' but
never explained why, said Schirmer, who testified last week before a grand
jury weighing whether to indict Nolin in Wessner's death.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Schirmer, 28, said that he picked
Nolin up between 1 and 3 p.m. on Sept. 20 from a Shaw's supermarket parking
lot in Brockton, where authorities later found Wessner's bloodstained
Jeep. Nolin, who served 18 years for child rape, has pleaded not guilty
to charges that he killed Wessner that day and buried his body on a rocky
shore in Woods Hole.

''Paul Nolin had called me and said that he was in a lot of trouble and
he needed a ride, and if I could, come pick him up in Brockton at Shaw's
Plaza,'' Schirmer said. ''He just said that he had met somebody and he
ended up in Brockton. . . . He didn't know how he got there.''

''I wanted to help him, but he dragged me through this,'' Schirmer added.
''I had nothing to do with this.''

Schirmer gave his account of the links between Nolin and two priests
whom authorities hope to question before the grand jury, the Rev. Bernard
R. Kelly, former pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Woods Hole; and the
Rev. Donald A. Turlick, a licensed psychologist who counseled Nolin in
prison, helped him find jobs and housing after his release, and introduced
him to Kelly.

Today, Kelly is expected to appear before the grand jury for the second
time as a Barnstable County Superior Court judge weighs his claim that
any conversations he had with Nolin after the slaying are confidential
because he was Nolin's priest. Kelly admitted to investigators that he
had a sexual relationship with Nolin, a law enforcement source has said.

Through his lawyer, Robert W. Nolan, Nolin has denied a sexual relationship
with Kelly.

In a closed-door hearing Thursday, Kelly's lawyer, Francis O'Boy, argued
that the priest should not have to testify about anything Nolin told him
after the killing, under state law and court precedent. At issue before
Judge Richard Connon is whether Nolin approached Kelly for advice in a
religious or spiritual context. Connon had not issued a ruling as of yesterday
evening, said Cape & Islands First Assistant District Attorney Brian
Glenny.

Yesterday, Schirmer said that he met Nolin, 39, through a mutual friend
he declined to identify, and that Nolin then introduced him to both Kelly
and Turlick. Schirmer said he and Nolin did maintenance work at Kelly's
farm in Cummaquid, where the priest raises Morgan horses and once hosted
a birthday party for Nolin.

Nolin's lawyer said his client had never mentioned Schirmer. Yesterday,
Robert Nolan also asked a Falmouth District Court judge to order prosecutors
to share police reports, witness statements, autopsy results, and any
other records supporting their case against Nolin, who has been held for
more than a month without bail in Barnstable County House of Correction.''They
haven't given us a shred of evidence,'' Nolan said before the hearing.
''Maybe they don't have the evidence.'' Assistant District Attorney Seth
Roman noted that Nolan received a copy of the now-sealed affidavit in
support of Nolin's arrest. And Glenny said authorities would turn over
reports such as DNA testing ''when they become available.'' Judge Michael
Creedon has scheduled a hearing on the evidence issue for Monday.